Vapor-burner.



11. o. WRIGHT. VAPOR BURNER. APPLIdATION FILED JUNE 17, 1909.

994,436 Patnted June 6,1911.

WITNESSES: I INVENT-OR.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

' HENRY C. WRIGHT, OF BRISTOL, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO THE BRISTOLBRASS COMPANY, OF BRISTOL, CONNECTICUT, A CORPORATION OF CONNECTICUT.

' VAPOR-BURNER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 6, 1911.

Application filed June 17, 12109. Serial No. 502,699.

, of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inVapor-Burners,

I of which the following is a full, clear, and

exact specification.

This invention relates to vapor lamps, and more especially to that classthereof in which alcohol'constitutes the fuel, and it has for 4 one ofits objects, the provision of such a device in which the alcohol isautomatically converted into gas which when ignited will continue thegas-forming operation.

v The invention has, furthermore, for its object certain improvements inthe construction and operation of the device as will hereinafter appear.

I The invention is clearly illustrated in the accompanying drawings, inwhich similar characters denote similar parts, and in which Figure 1 isa top view of a vapor lamp embodying my improvements, and Fig. 2 is acentral vertical section thereof on line 2, 2 of Fig. 1.

Briefly stated, my improved vapor lamp comprises a fountain, orreservoir, for the reception of alcohol, or similar liquid, which istransferred into the upper part of the burner portion of the device by awick in a tube, the upper end of which constitutes a gasgeneratingchamber, and which may be heated for the purpose of generating gas aslong as the burner is in active operation irrespective of the degree ofheat generated by the flame.

Referring to the drawings, 10 denotes a fountain base for the receptionof the alcohol, or fuel. Tightly secured to the upper lamp portion ofsaid reservoir is a cover 11 Which is beaded as at 12' around the flangeof said reservoir and the upper portion of which is slightly dished asat 13 to form, in connection with a guide-tube 1 1, an annular troughinto which alcohol may be placed and lighted for the purpose of startingthe generation of gas in the-burner section of the device.

The guide-tube 1 1 is tightly sealed to the bottom of the dished portion13 and its upper and lower ends are flanged inwardly as at 15 and 16,respectively, to serve as guiding means for a shutter 17 which isadapted for vertical movement therein as controlled by a rack 18 andpinion 19 which latter is secured to a stem having a bearing in a tube20 and provided at its outer end with a knurled finger piece 21.

Fron1 the foregoing, it is evident that by vlrtue 0f the comparativelylong bearing of the tube 14 above referred to, said shutter will beguided without danger of deflection.

Disposed in the center of the fountain 10 and secured to the basethereof is a thimble 22, the lower end of which is flanged as at 23 andsecured to the base of the fountain; while its upper end is preferablyslitted and bent outward as illustrated in Fig. 2 to provide a series ofresilient prongs adapted to engage the lower end of the wick tube 24 ofthe device, this tube having a wick 25 whereby the alcohol is carriedinto the upper part of said tube. In its preferred construction,

means of perforations 28 disposed near the bottom thereof.

The wick tube extends upward and above the guide-tube 14:, and isprovided with an annular chamber, or jet ring 30 which may be formed inany desired manner and which vis provided with a series of perforations31 which permit the gas generated within the upper portion 32 of thewick tube to escape therethrough. Inasmuch as under ordinarycircumstances, the wick will, by virtue of its absorption of thealcohol, swell so as to substantially fill the interior of said wicktube, means are provided whereby this expansion, or swelling of the wickwill be restricted so as to leave a clear space through which the gasformed in the upper portion of the wick tube may pass downward into thechamber of the jet ring 30. In the preferred form thereof shown, thewick tube consists of the lower section 24: which is slightly reduced indiameter as at 24 to receive on the outside thereof, the lower portionof the wick tube section 32 so that in this manner the sections 24 and32 may be disassembled when desired. By referring to Fig. 2, it will benoted that the lower wick tube 24 is, at a point just below the jet ring30, slightly contracted so as to be of a diameter smaller than the innerdiameter of the upper wick tube section 32 so that in this manner thisreduced portion 33 will leave an annular space 34 between it and theinterior of the wick tube section 32, and it is this space which is incommunication with the interior of the jet ring 30.

The upper portion of the wick tube section 32 is closed by the top plate35 which may be secured to the tube section 32, or may form a partthereof. The uppermost portion of the tube section 32 is also slightlyreduced in diameter to form what might be termed a shoulder 36 which isadapted to serve as a stop for properly positioning a cap 37 whichsurrounds the uppermost portion of said section and which consists of ashank 38 tting on the reduced portion 36 and having a flanged top 39which is provided with a series of perforations 4:0. The outer diameterof the flange 39 is substantially equal to the inner diameter of theshutter 17 so that when said shutter is raised, the flame resulting fromthe gas issuing through the ports 31, may be gradually shut off, itbeing evident that when said shutter is high enough to project over theflange 39, said flame will have ceased to exist, but a gas chamber willhave been formed between the outer surface of the wick tube and theinner surface of the shutter, gas being permitted to enter said spacethrough the ports 31 and out again through the ports 40, so that in thismanner the gas Which issues from the perforations 10 will constitute alow flame which, however, can only be extinguished either by being blownout, or else by other extraneous means not forming a part of the presentdevice.

Attention is invited to the fact that the upper portion of the capflange 39 is proj ecting above the upper plate of the wick tube whichconstruction has a tendency of concentrating the flame toward thecenter, or at least to prevent the same from spreading out as soon as itleaves the chamber.

The operation of the vapor burner is as follows: The reservoir 10 beingfilled with alcohol and the shutter 17 being in its lowermost posit-ion,as shown in Fig. 2, alcohol may be introduced into the annular tray, ortrough 13 and ignited. The heat generated by this alcohol flame willnaturally heat the upper portion of the lamp and particularly the wicktube section 32, this heat being transferred to the interior of the tubewhich contains the alcohol-soaked wick, so that in this manner thisalcohol will be converted into gas. Inasmuch as the top of the wick tubeis closed, the gas generated therein will follow the easiest way of exitwhich in the present instance consists of the annular space 34, andthence enters into the jet ring 30 whence it-may escape through theperforations or ports 31 where it will ignite and have a regular blasteffect as practice has demonstrated. This blast effect may be graduallyreduced by the upward movement of the shutter 17 until the flame may beentirely shut off below the cap 37 and the gas directed through theports &0 of said cap which as above mentioned constitutes the low flamewithout any blast effect whatsoever.

Many changes may be made in the particular construction of some of thecomponent elements of the device as Well as in their particular mode ofoperation described and shown, without departing from the spirit of theinvention.

I claim The combination with a font, of a wick tube, means for holdingsaid wick tube in the font, a jet ring carried by said tube, an open-topcap surrounding the uppermost portion of the wick tube and having aflange provided with perforations, and a shutter disposed on the outsideof the jet ring and movable into engagement with the outside of saidflange to establish a gas conduit between said jet ring and theperforations in said flange.

HENRY C. WVRIGHT. lVitnesses:

A. D. WVILsoN, H. R. 0001:.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G.

